Juunishi Love
by Katsue
Summary: A mysterious girl with some lifechanging news enters the lives of the Sohmas. What is up with this strange link to Tohru? And is it possible that she is somehow involved with the Sohma Family, even if she herself doesn't know it?
1. Flying

Jess: (evil glare) Why are you writing another fanfic?

Katie: (shoves) OUT! OUT! Wrong fic! Shoo!

Kyo: Is it safe now?

Katie: (nods) You can come out too Momiji. Maris isn't here either; I'm attempting not to confuse people as much anymore.

Hiro: As if that will work.

Katie: You know what… I would kick you out but I think I'll just bother you instead.

Hiro: O.O

Momiji: Oh! Oh! I'll help!

Kisa: Me too…

Hiro: TT I've been betrayed.

Katie: Anyway here's my new, relatively serious fanfiction!

**_Chapter 1_**

The girls large brown eyes flickered open as the world around her tumbled and bumped. She sleepily blinked at her surroundings. _'Where am I?'_ She began to realize, as her sleepiness started to wear off, that the ground didn't usually shake like this. She anxiously gripped her armrest as she sat bolt upright, alarmed by what was happening. _'Armrest...? That's right... I'm on a plane.'_

She took a few deep breaths, her head looking up into the small fan of the type they put on planes, waiting for the adrenalin to leave her system and allow her heart to beat normally. The plane was one of the larger commercial flights that has three rows of seats in the middle along with two rows of seats on the side. Everything was white except for the worn seats, which were a navy blue with red and yellow triangles. The plane hit turbulence again and a man a few rows ahead moved and grumbled in his seat. In fact _everyone_ was asleep. _'I guess that's what happens when you take such a long flight...' _

Her own sleep had not left her feeling fresh and alert at all. It felt like Gravity had decided to hang weights off of her eyelids and pull on her arms and legs, trying to make her comply with his rules. She tried to brush the sleep out of her eyes in vain. Sighing, she held her shoulder length brown hair back in a ponytail_. 'It's so hot!'_ Reaching up she turned the knob on the little fan to make it blow harder but it was of no use. She fidgeted like an uncomfortable baby.

The feeling of dread in her stomach was making her feel uncomfortable. _'I can't believe I'm flying all the way to Japan for this...'_ The girl was on the way to see her sister. The one she had never met. _'But how will I tell her about her dad...?'_ She didn't even know the girl! What was she supposed to do! Walk up to her sister's doorstep, knock on the door, and tell her, "Hi, I'm you sister! By the way your dad--" The plane hit hard turbulence and it seemed as if the wings would fly off on their own, they were shaking so hard. When it was over she leaned her forehead against the glass, trying to tell herself that she was just upset over the past week's events. That was why the pit of her stomach felt as if it were an empty tube of toothpaste that some cheapskate just kept squeezing. _'Why me?'_ She felt the now familiar swelling in her head that always occured right before she began crying. Her throat tightened painfully. She didn't want to cry again. Not in front of so many people. Strangers. The only connection she had with them was that her mouth, too, was stale with the taste of a sourly long flight. The girl banged her head lightly against the glass (she was always afraid the windows would break) and, feeling the cold from the high altitude starting to seep into her skull, withdrew and rubbed her forehead to warm it up. There was a light smear of grease on the glass where she had rested her head. She scowled at it_, 'Puberty! Yuck!'_

What was wrong with her lately? She had always been a 'nice, sweet girl' (at least that was what everyone told her) and she had never lacked food and shelter... she had always been grateful for her life. She knew that what she had was good, even if she had only spoken to her father once, and then only in an awkward phone conversation. But maybe she was only in this bad mood because of her mother... she wanted her mother to come back—

As if on cue the short, 'pleasantly plump' toddler sitting next to her began sniffling and whispering "Mama..." as he came out of his nap. He looked up to the girl with the large, warm brown eyes with hair that matched and started to speak more loudly. Reaching up to her he cried, "Mama!"

She looked around frantically, where was this little boy's mom? She bit her lip and then plucked him from his seat, replacing him on her lap. She cradled his head and smoothed his thin, wispy baby hair whispering all the while, "Shh. It's all right. I'll find your mommy."

The little boy looked up at her with large eyes and she was tempted to give him a large hug, although she didn't because she was afraid it would scare him. "What's your name?" She made sure that her voice was soft and warm.

His lip was still trembling as he replied, "Charlie…"

She gave him a bright smile, "Why that's a very grown up name!" She was rewarded with a small toothy grin from him. "How old are you, Charlie?"

"Four." He had a very small lisp, but she figured that was normal for little kids. Now that he was settled in her lap he seemed much calmer and he was even starting to sound happy. Which is always a good sign, she reminded herself.

A flight attendant came down the aisle, peering into the rows to check and see if all of the passengers were sleeping so that she could go take a quick nap herself. When she saw the girl a few aisles away she sighed, 'Well… maybe I'll just wake up Susan…' She walked over to the girl with a smile plastered on her face. "Hello—" as she got closer she saw that there was a little boy sitting on the girl's lap. "Oh, I'm sorry dear but the 'fasten your seat belt' sign is still on." She gestured towards the small neon sign.

The girl looked up and gasped, "Oh! Uh, um, I'm sorry! I didn't realize! He just started crying and--"

The flight attendant cut off the rambling girl with a shake of her head, "No, no. It's all right. Please just return him to his seat." Honestly! The people they let on planes these days!

The girl hurried to do as the flight attendant said. After Charlie was buckled into his seat the flight attendant granted her a quick nod and went of to find Susan so that she could get a nap.

Charlie whimpered and pouted, upset at not being in the nice girl's warm arms anymore. She leaned over to him, panicking a bit that he would start crying.

"It's all right, Charlie!" She said quickly. "Now… where is your Mommy? If you tell me maybe we can find her."

He sniffled a little and looked innocently up at her. "Daddy said she would peek me up when I get off the pwane."

For a moment she was confused; then she realized he meant 'plane'. "Oh. All right," she thought for a moment. "How would you like it if I helped you find her when we get to where your mommy is?"

Charlie nodded vigorously and she smiled, ruffling his hair. "All right, bud! Sounds like a plan."

He smiled and tilted his head at her. "Whas yer name?"

She gave him a motherly look and said, "My name is--"

She was cut off by the man who had mumbled in his sleep before. "Will you be quiet? Some of us are trying to get some sleep."

She apologized quietly and leaned in to tell Charlie her name.

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"We will be landing in twenty minutes time." The pilot announced over the intercom.

The girl smiled at Charlie. He had fallen asleep with his head in her lap (she raised the armrest out of the way). She put her head back and closed her eyes as well_. 'I haven't really slept a wink this whole trip…'_ She was exhausted. But what else did she expect? She had been on a plane from the United States all the way to Japan and the whole time she had sat there dreading her arrival so much that the thought of sleep hadn't even entered her brain. A few minutes after she closed her eyes she was in a deep and all encompassing sleep.

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Forty-five minutes later the girl stood with Charlie in the terminal. She could already tell that she would be experiencing extreme jetlag; probably increased by the fact that she had gotten about ten minutes of real sleep during the whole flight. After adjusting the strap on her carry-on to make it more comfortable she turned her attention to Charlie. "What does your mommy look like?"

The little boy clung to his Care Bears backpack with a scared look. The hustle and bustle of the airport in Tokyo probably was a lot to handle for a little boy… "She's pwetty."

The girl smiled, not bothering to press further. "Can you help me look for her?" She led Charlie over to the side and tried to look for someone in the large crowd that seemed like they were searching for a small boy. She noticed a tall blonde woman frantically standing on tiptoe, trying to magically grow taller than the tall man in front of her so that she could see the passengers who were unloading. Before she could venture a guess as to whether or not the woman was who she was looking for, however, Charlie screamed a loud, "Mommy!" He ran over to the woman on his small stubby legs and she scooped him up, the tears in her eyes visible even from a distance.

The girl smiled. She was glad that he had found his mother. _'He'll be all right now. He has his mother.'((AN: If you haven't picked up the vast hints about mothers yet… well I guess now you will.)) _She hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder and turned around, walking straight ahead without looking back, secure in the knowledge that the little boy she had grown so fond of was safe. The last thing that she wanted to think of was that one day he would grow up. When that happened who knew what misery would befall him? Her greatest wish was to spare him that kind of anguish.

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After going through baggage and getting her suitcase she headed towards the automatic doors leading to Tokyo. She had to get a taxi to her sister's house. After ten minutes of waving down possible cabs one driver finally pulled up to the curb and shouted, "Hop in!" through the open window.(_(AN: 'Cause the cars are all backwards in Japan… ok, I'll shut up now up.))_ Putting her luggage in the back seat she slid into the front next to the driver. She told him where she wanted to go in her awkward Japanese; it was probably a good thing that her mother had forced her to learn the language, although she was still atrocious at writing in anything other than English.

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After paying and thanking the cab driver she turned around and faced the street. _'Now what was the address…?'_ She dug around in the pocket of her jacket for the piece of paper. _'Here it is…' _The scrap had the name and address of her sister on it. She had found her sister's address and phone number in her mother's address book, but when she had called she had discovered that her sister had moved. Her sister's grandfather had given her the new address.

She exhaled, creating a cloud of water vapor, and started to walk along the street, her suitcase rolling on its tiny wheels behind her. She was led to a tiny side road that led through the edge of a forest. _'Hmm… sort of secluded.' _Walking along the path she rehearsed again and again what she would say as soon as the door was opened.

She finally emerged onto a large lawn. A friendly looking, Japanese style house was a few hundred yards away from her; she started towards it.

After tripping a few times on unseen obstacles (her mother used to say that her daughter tripped on air) and several thoughts of turning back and forgetting the whole business the girl reached the door.

She bit her lip. Her stomach was in knots that were coiled around each other like a sea monster. They even felt like a sea monster, well… an _angry _sea monster, she supposed. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of such a ridiculous daydream. _'Just. Knock."_

It was the right thing to do. Yes, it wouldn't be fair of her to back out now and not tell the sister-that-she-had-never-met the truth.

With a deep breath, the girl reached up and knocked on the wood of the door.

She waited for what seemed like forever to her aching soul. At last, right before she was about to knock again, the door opened. A girl, who seemed a few years older than her, smiled. She had long, chestnut brown hair and large brown eyes. In fact, both of the girls looked very similar.

The older girl blinked at the visitor, "Can I help you?"

The younger girl, startled out of some inner reflection, hastened to reply, "Um… yes! Is this the home of…," she glanced down at the paper which had her sister's name etched onto it, "…Tohru Honda?"

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Katie: I feel really bad…

Hiro and Kyo: Why?

Katie: Because the only reason I have you guys in the Author's Note right now is because I haven't introduced the name of my original character yet… then I'll replace you guys with her…

Kisa: That's all right, Katie-chan! I'll come visit you anyway.

Hiro: I feel so loved.

Kyo: What the hell was up with not telling your OC's name anyway?

Katie: (chucks cheeseburger at Kyo) NO CURSING! And I didn't tell because… that would ruin the surprise.

Shigure: Oh, really? I thought you just hadn't decided what name you wished to give her yet… you could borrow a name from one of my books if you like.

Katie: Umm… no thanks….

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**Quick note:** If you've gotten this far already would you please take just a minute to review? I would really love some constructive criticism!


	2. Flour

Katie: So… do you guys like Tohru's sister?

Tohru: (crying)

Kyo: What's wrong!

Ayame: Don't worry, Kyonkichi! I am sure they are tears of JOY!

Kyo: I told you not to call me--!

Shigure: (pounces on Kyo) Well spoken, Aaya! Unless of course Tohru is simply—

Yuki: (pounces on Shigure) You. No. Speak.

_**Chapter 2**_

"Um… yes?" Tohru looked down at the girl, "I'm Tohru."

"Oh!" She hadn't expected her sister to open the door, but then again, she did live here. "My name is Kairi Ho--… Well, um… it's nice to meet you!"

Tohru smiled her signature smile, making Kairi feel at least a bit more at ease, "It's nice to meet you!"

A few moments of awkward silence commenced.

"Oh, yes! Please, come in!" Tohru hurriedly moved out of the doorway to allow the visitor in. Why did she always seem to forget that part?

"Thank you, Tohru! …um, -san…?" Kairi ducked through the doorway and looked around like it was the first time she had been in a house before. She walked right through the entrance hall and then, remembering her shoes, ran back and slipped them off.

Tohru followed suit, her shoes slipping off in a more practiced fashion that made Kairi blush even more, now from pure embarrassment. The thought crossed Tohru's mind that maybe the girl was foreign. That would explain her clumsy Japanese. But what was she doing here? Maybe she was a Sohma. After all, for all Tohru knew the Sohma's could be in other countries as well as Japan.

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A few minutes later Kairi was kneeling uncomfortably at the kotatsu _(AN: That's the table… with a heater built in! I want one!) _, she was used to chairs. Tohru had gone to the kitchen to make her some tea. Kairi wondered how she was supposed to tell her that she despised tea… She definitely couldn't pretend she liked it! The stuff was disgusting!

A few more minutes passed. _'Where is she…?' _She played around a bit with her monogrammed socks, making the small kittens elongated. The time alone in this house was making her feel a bit uncomfortable. _'Maybe I should leave?'_ But she couldn't. Her sister deserved to hear this. Tohru. It would probably be best to stop calling her 'sister'… she deserved to be called by her name, too.

Finally, Kairi heard a banging sound. She looked up anxiously. The moment of truth had come. _'I'll just tell her as soon as she comes through the door! That way if she gets mad and decides to stab me with a kitchen knife I can run out the front door and--'_

Her plans for a quick confession were interrupted, however by a tall, orange-haired teenage boy making his way through the door. _'…Oh. I didn't realize she lived with other people.' _But of course she did! Tohru was only in high school! But it seemed odd to have a guy as a roommate… unless that was normal in Japan? Somehow Kairi doubted that.

The boy looked up, "What the HELL!"

Kairi got up quickly. "Um, uh, it's nice to meet you! I'm sorry for my poor Japanese. My name is—"

"I don't give a damn what your name is! What are you doing in this house!" Before she got a chance to reply he shouted in the direction of the kitchen, "TOHRU!" Now, wait a second… how did he know that Tohru was in the kitchen. That was odd.

A tremendous banging sounded from the kitchen and Kairi started towards the door, alarmed. Tohru couldn't get hurt before she got to tell her The Secret! _(AN: She's not really being selfish… it really is important. Maybe I just won't tell you what The Secret is in this chapter! Heehee!) _

The kitchen door opened and a cloud of white smoke came out. It completely encompassed one side of the room, including Kairi. The orange-haired boy jumped nimbly out of the way and sighed. "Did you knock over the flour again?"

"Ye-yes!" Tohru was covered head to toe in the white powder. "I'm really sorry! You just scared me so much when you called that I tripped… Not that you're scary or anything! You're definitely not scary! Not scary at all!"

Kairi stared in bemusement at the apologizing girl. Tohru seemed like she might blow-up, she was so upset. Kairi's own clothes were almost completely covered. The only spots that were left at least a little untouched were the place where her hand had rested on her shirt and, strangely enough, her socks.

"It's fine!" Kyo tried to calm Tohru's heavy stream of apologies. "No really, I don't care. You're going to clean it up anyway…. On second thought let's make the rat boy do it." Tohru continued to go on and on. Kairi was afraid she might hurt herself. "I SAID IT WAS FINE!" That stopped her.

With a final, "I'm sorry!" Tohru sat down at the kotatsu with her head hanging.

Kyo rolled his eyes with a slight smile. "You're such a klutz." His attention turned back to Kairi. "Who's _she._"

Tohru turned to Kairi as well and smiled, "Why this is…!" She gasped. "Oh no! I covered you, too!" She burst into great tears of penance.

Kyo pulled a handkerchief that he just _happened_ to be carrying with him and handed it to Tohru. Well… that's what he told Tohru anyway, he was used to her outbursts by now and was always prepared for them.

"No, it's okay! See! I'm fine!" Kairi brushed some flour off of her shirt but instead of it floating to the floor as she expected, it ballooned out in a cloud and covered her face. She started to sneeze and attempted to wave it away from her face in vain.

Kyo had gotten a firm grip on the Tohru situation until Kairi began sneezing. When Tohru saw the new cloud of flour she began to cry harder and the handkerchief was completely neglected. Seeing as how there wasn't much else he could do, Kyo grabbed Kairi's arm and pulled her to the bathroom. "You. Take a shower. I'll have Tohru get you some clothes. It'll calm her down."

Kairi nodded and was given a little shove through the doorway. She stumbled and when she looked back over her shoulder the door was already clicking shut. "Um… okay," she mumbled unnecessarily.

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Kairi stuck her towel-wrapped head out of the bathroom, releasing a cloud of steam reminiscent to the flour disaster. Kyo and Tohru were sitting at the table, laughing, so she figured it was safe to talk. "Hello? Uh… could I have some clothes?" _(AN: Just so you guys know Kairi isn't really that shy…it's just that she's uncomfortable and she doesn't know Japanese perfectly.)_

Tohru turned to her with a slightly dazed look, "Of course! I'll get you some!" She got up and 'tip tapped' off to her room to look for some clothes for Kairi.

Kyo smiled after her. Kairi noticed that he had a dreamy look on his face, it seemed so out of place there that she couldn't suppress a small giggle.

He turned and scowled at her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh! N-nothing." She said, stuttering with laughter.

"Yeah, whatever. I really can't believe Tohru even let you in." He mumbled the last sentence quickly. Obviously he had realized that Kairi was foreign and thought that if he spoke too quickly it would go over her head.

She gave him a sly smile, because of course she knew exactly what he had said. And besides he seemed like he would be a great person to make fun of. "Oh? Are you that socially inept?"

His eyes snapped onto hers. "No. It's just that the last time she let someone in I was attacked…" _(AN: Remember Kagura) _

She raised an eyebrow. _'Oh my… he's serious.'_ Kairi had nothing left to say so she attempted to fill the silence by making the door creak as she moved it slightly back and forth (of course not enough to show her body, even if it was wrapped in a towel). When that didn't work she just nodded slowly and awkwardly. "Sooooo… I never asked your name! I'm Kairi."

"Kyo Sohma." He grunted.

"Ah. A Sohma." She said it as if she knew everything about the family. It had proven to be a good way to creep people out back in the States, so why not here too?

"You know about us!" He looked alarmed, like something had bitten him. Kairi wondered why… was there some scandal his family was involved in?

"Of course I know about you! I know everything! If you know what I mean." She granted him a small wink.

"Damn…" He banged his fist against the table, "I can't have a fresh start if you already know about me being the cat!"

Her brow furrowed slightly. What the heck was he talking about? How could a person be a cat? "Um, no, that's not true. You can have a fresh start."

"Yeah. Right," he snorted.

The sound of Tohru's footsteps grew closer. "I've got the clothes!" She said cheerfully.

Kairi took the offered clothes and smiled. "Thanks."

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Kairi changed into the clothes and came back out into the living room. Tohru and Kyo looked up, startled out of a whispered conversation. Kairi smiled awkwardly at them and sat down.

They both waited expectantly for her to say something.

She closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Then she opened. Closed. Opened. Closed.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Kyo sighed exasperatedly.

"It's just… really hard to say this." Kairi snapped back.

Tohru looked sympathetically at her, "Don't worry…um… I'm sorry but what did you say your last name was?" _(AN: Because Tohru's so formal I figured she would speak in last name-san form at first.)_

Kairi bit her lip and looked down. "H…Honda."

They both blinked at her.

"Well that's a funny coincidence." Tohru laughed. Kyo merely rolled his eyes with an amused expression at Tohru's antics.

"NO!" Kairi clenched her fists and stared down at her knees. She kept her eyes closed tightly as the tears fell. This wasn't the way this was supposed to have happened! "It's not some stupid coincidence!"

"What are you talking about?" Tohru cocked her head to the side questioningly.

"It's because I… I'm… I'm your sister," she whispered so softly that it took them a moment to process.

Before Tohru could say a word Kyo shouted out, "What! How!"

Tohru just stared at her, completely stricken. "B-but… how?"

Kairi's shoulders shuddered. "It… it was your dad."

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Katie: The end!

Haru: …I'm ashamed.

Katie: Heh-heh… and why would that be Haru-kun?

Haru: You named her Kairi.

Katie: I'm sorry!

Haru: I can't believe you named her after a video game character.

Katie: I'm sorry! I love Kingdom Hearts! It's just that I was watching all of the pretty new trailers for Kingdom Hearts 2 and she looked so good with her new long hair! I couldn't help it!

Haru: Yes, you could.

Katie: I'M SORRY!

Hisoka: You should be ashamed!

Katie: AH! SHOO! (shove) They don't know who you are yet!

Kyo: Well…at least she didn't steal his name from anywhere.

Shigure: Ah! But if you think about it… she must have. Because somewhere out there…. there is someone else with that name. (sparkles)

Katie: Oh, shut it.

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Quick Note: Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! And hinthint to anyone who's reading this right now: REVIEW! I'll write faster, I swear!


	3. Mothers

_**Chapter 3**_

**Warning! There are some spoilers from chapter 109 in this chapter. Nothing too important though, so don't worry too much. It mostly pertains to her dad. I'll write a little note at the end of the chapter to tell you what I made up and what's real.**

Katie: Ach, I don't like this chapter at all! I can't even think of anything for this AN! I just got out of that weird non-writing funk too!

Kyo: Haha! Sucks for you!

Yuki: Have you ever noticed that when writers who do these AN things have no funny and/or interesting ideas they always have everyone say random things? Like this?

Katie: Have you ever noticed that my, Kyo, and Katie's names all start with K's. Talk about confusing.

Yuki: Thank you for proving my point.

Katie: I love how these things write themselves…

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"My… dad?" Tohru had abandoned her usual happy, smiling look for something else that hadn't been seen there often. It looked almost like anger. "What do you know about my dad?" she said a little more sharply than was usual for her. Kyo turned to stared at her because of the odd tone of voice.

"Well…" Kairi didn't know how uncommon anger was for Tohru and so ventured on unaware of what dangerous ground she was treading on. "You see… I-I don't really know how to say it…" she blushed and looked down at the ground.

Tohru's eyes immediately softened and she reached over to give Kairi a half-hug. "It's all right. You can tell me later, okay?"

"No, it's okay," Kairi wiped at her cheek and smiled at Tohru. "I'll tell you now. But… I'm not really sure of the details myself. My mo--," she gulped, "my mom told me that when she was in college she met this really nice guy. So, they started to go out and stuff. And then this guy had to go back home and… well, six months after he left my mom had me." She stared intently at the corner of the table, embarrassed.

The whole time she had been telling the story Kyo had just stared at her. What was the big deal? It's not like she had been the one to do anything embarrassing.

"Oh." Tohru said, brushing it off. She picked up the dirty cups from the table and headed toward the kitchen with them. "That's fine." Without another word she disappeared through the kitchen door.

Kyo frowned. He couldn't remember another time when Tohru had acted this way. Although he supposed that made sense since he hadn't known her for too long. If you didn't think two years was a long time. Casually looking over at the other end of the table where Kairi sat, he saw that her eyes were downcast and she was biting at her bottom lip. That seemed to be some sort of a nervous habit of hers, she'd been doing it for the past few minutes.

"Hey…" She glanced up to look at him when he spoke and he saw that her eyes were a bit _too_ bright. "Look, you really shouldn't be so upset. You didn't do anything wrong, right?" Kyo smiled at her wryly.

Kairi worried at her lip even more as she answered. "No… I suppose not. It's just that my Mom's story never really added up. She kept out all of the details…" She sighed and wiped her forehead with her palm. "For all I know Tohru-san isn't even _really_ my sister. And now I'll never get to ask my mom." Her lip trembled a bit and then her whole chin followed course.

"You never said what happened to your mom." Kyo said. He figured that it wasn't anything too serious, maybe Kairi just needed some space for a while and had come to see her "sister"(he preferred to not worry yet about whether or not this was true or not) as an excuse.

"I didn't…?" The little brunette looked as if someone had just told her that they had stopped making sliced bread. "Umm… she was… in a car crash." Her voice faded more and more as she talked until it was barely audible at the end.

Kyo's eyes widened. He definitely hadn't expected this! "Er, sorry… you know, Tohru's mom died in a car crash…" He was about to add 'too' to the end of his sentence but changed his mind because it seemed just a bit insensitive, even for him.

"Really!" Kairi hadn't known that. Now she felt _really_ bad for telling Tohru about her father. "I… I had no idea."

Kyo rested his head on his hand. "She's probably the only person you'll meet who will completely understand."

"I don't know about that." Kairi said skeptically. "The_ only _person."

"Yeah." Kyo said confidently. "You sound like you were real close to your mom. And you both had the same dad, right?"

"Well… I guess. But what does my dad have to do with her understanding?"

Kyo shrugged. "It matters for Tohru. I think she can understand anyone even if they aren't her family, though. You should talk to her later. You'll feel better." He said it more as an order that as a suggestion.

"Um, okay." She nodded weakly. "I guess I'd better go… it's getting late."

"Go?"

"Well… yeah. I have just enough money to stay at the motel down the road."

Kyo shook his head slightly. _She really just came down to tell Tohru that… they're more alike than I thought. _"Could you wait here for a little longer?"

"I-I guess so…" Kairi said uncertainly.

"I'll be right back." Kyo got up from the table and headed for the small outdoor balcony where Tohru did the laundry. He had a feeling she'd be up there and he had to talk to her.

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He'd been right. She was sitting with her feet hanging through the bars of the railing. Quietly he walked over and sat next to her with his legs folded Indian style.

"Hey."

"Hello…" Tohru didn't look at him; instead she stared at her feet, which she was swinging back and forth.

"You're allowed to be upset, Tohru."

"I know that…"

"You don't look like you know it."

She paused for a moment and her legs hang still. "You said it was okay to be selfish every so often so…" Stopping, she shook her head emphatically. "But it's only okay to be selfish _sometimes_, right! That was just… cruel. What I did back there."

Kyo laughed a bit. "It wasn't that bad. At least not as bad as you seem to think it is. You should just go talk to her. Explain everything."

"I-I can't."

"Hey, you told me, right? You told me, right here, on this very porch."

"But I don't know her, Kyo-kun." She whispered. "I just… I don't know what to say to her."

"Her mom died in a car crash. It's why she came here."

"What!" Tohru turned to stare at him for the first time since they had started talking. Kyo simply turned to return the gaze. She was the first to look away.

"I should go talk to her." Tohru said determinedly.

"Good idea." Kyo smiled at her retreating back.

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Kairi remained sitting, contemplating everything that her mother had told her about her father. Not much. Just that he'd been kind and had died of some sort of sickness when Tohru was little. That was one thing that had never made much sense to her. How could he have had time to go to college, meet her mom, and then go back home to a wife? How early could he possibly have gotten married! And if he were so kind why would he cheat on his wife? Why would her mother _help_ him? It just didn't make sense.

She sighed and rested her head in her hands, _I guess I'll never really know everything… I was sort of hoping Tohru could tell me…_

At that moment Tohru strode into the living room, looking around frantically. She was about to walk back out of the room when she noticed Kairi sitting there. "Oh, there you are! I was looking all over for you."

"Um…" Kairi stared, bemused, as Tohru sat down next to her.

"I just…" Tohru looked down at her lap, all of the energy she had just shown gone. "I'm really sorry! Please forgive me, Honda-san!"

Kairi's eyes widened. Forgive her? What had Tohru done wrong? The younger girl shook her head, "No, I--" She cut herself off as she saw Tohru's eyes start to water. "No! Don't be upset! _Really, _I--" Then she noticed that the tears weren't from crying. Tohru was silently laughing. "Uh…"

Tohru wiped at an eye, "I'm sorry. It's just…" She started to laugh again and it was a few moments before she was able to control herself. "It's just so weird to call someone by my own name!"

Kairi was confused for a moment before she remembered that Tohru had called her 'Honda-san' just a bit before. She smiled. It was sort of weird. Before she knew it she was laughing right along with Tohru. Their was something infectious about her laugh.

Tohru shook her head. "Besides, you're my sister, right? I shouldn't be so formal."

"That's probably a good idea," Kairi agreed, rubbing her cheek, which was extremely sore from all the laughing. She tilted her head to the side questioningly, "You said you were looking for me?"

Tohru nodded, her face becoming sober and almost sad. "I wanted to come down and tell you that I was sorry for being so rude."

"No, no! You weren't rude at all!" Kairi insisted, waving her hands.

"I shouldn't have walked out in a huff like that." Tohru insisted firmly. "Especially after you had such a hard time telling me your story…" She added, ashamed.

"Don't be ridiculous! You had the right to be upset over something that important!"

Tohru shook her head again. "Mom always said even if I'm really upset over something I shouldn't take it out on someone else. Usually it's not even their fault, and even if it is you still shouldn't be cruel towards them. They might be hurting just as much as you are."

Kairi paused. "My mother used to say almost exactly the same thing." She said in awe. "Except she said it more as a 'don't get mad at other people just because you're mad. They won't understand and you'll wind up hurting them just as much as you're hurting' type of thing."

Tohru smiled brightly. "I guess our mom's are sort of alike."

Kairi grinned back at her. "Your mom seems a lot more elegant and wise than mine though."

"Probably not more than your mom. She was just really smart, that's all. And really kind too. She knew how people thought and she wanted me to have the best in life."

Kairi nodded. "Yup, sounds like she was wise to me. My mom is just so _sappy_. She goes off about how I should treat other people all the time. It drives me crazy, but I guess it's not that bad. Although…" She looked down sadly. "I guess I shouldn't be talking about her as if she were alive."

Tohru's eyes softened sympathetically. "It's okay. You can talk about her however you want to. She's always there with you. That's what I tell myself, anyway."

Kairi nodded. "That's what she always told me."

"She sounds like a very kind person." Tohru said gently.

"She was." Kairi smiled softly. "Mom always noticed things that no one else cares about… she was an artist so it kind of comes with the job, I guess. But they were always such _small_ things. The things that made her happy. The shade of green that a leaf is. Or the way light reflects of a puddle. And we'd always laugh over the stupidest things. Once," Kairi said, grinning, "she was helping me study for a geography test. In my notes I was supposed to have written 'butte' but I forgot the 'e'. We laughed _forever_ about that. And then we started laughing more at the fact that we were laughing at it in the first place!" Her smile faded a bit. "I just… really miss her."

Tohru nodded sympathetically. "I miss my mom too. But we have each other, so it's not like our whole family is gone."

Kairi smiled up at her. "I'm glad about that." She bit her lip nervously, pondering whether or not she should ask the question that she wanted to. "Um… Tohru?"

"Yes?" Tohru asked pleasantly.

"Um… well, you acted kind of weird when I told you about our dad. I mean, it makes sense. It's just… it seemed like there was something else going on." Kairi shifted uncomfortably.

Tohru sighed. "That's the other reason that I came down to talk to you. You see… I never really _liked_ him much."

"But didn't he die when you were really young?" Kairi asked, surprised.

"Yes… but… I don't remember much about him. It's not fair of me to say any of this really. But… after he died Mom was so upset. She would cry all the time and since I was so young I was worried that Mom would go away to be with dad instead of me… I didn't know any better. The relatives didn't help much. They went around gossiping. I… um… I remember hearing a couple women whisper that they thought I wasn't actually our father's daughter. That Mom had… well, you know. After that I tried to act like him so that they wouldn't say that anymore. He was really polite so I tried to speak like him and it just stuck. After I did that it seemed like Mom felt better. I don't really know how it happened but… after a while I just started to dislike him." Tohru explained it all in a monotone voice but Kairi could tell that her sister was upset.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to remind you of old wounds." Kairi said sadly.

Tohru tried to brighten a bit. "It's fine. I just hope that you're not too upset at my complaining… I usually don't, but Kyo-kun's trying to get me to 'think about myself' more. He thought that I should tell you so that you wouldn't feel bad."

Kairi smiled. Kyo didn't sound like such a bad guy. "I really must be going." She started to stand and head for the door.

"Go?" Tohru asked, bemused.

"I have to get headed for the hotel before it gets too dark out…" Kairi said distractedly as she slipped on one shoe.

"Oh no! You can stay here! I'll go get a cot and you can sleep out here until we figure out somewhere else for you to stay!"

"I couldn't…" Kairi started, but Tohru had already started down the hallway. "Tohru!"

"Yes?" Tohru said, turning around, happy and smiling.

Kairi sighed, giving in. "I have another question."

"Yes?"

"What should I call you?" Kairi asked shyly.

"Well…" Tohru considered. "I guess you _are_ my sister, right?"

Kairi nodded.

"Then I guess… you can call me Onee-chan. If you want to."

Kairi grinned at her. "Sounds good, Onee-chan."

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Katie: For those of you who don't know—Onee-chan means sister.

Kisa: It's what I call Onee-chan!

Kyo: That made no sense.

Hiro: Leave her alone, idiot.

Kyo: Excuse me!

Hiro: Do you need to get your ears cleaned out?

Kyo: I'll clean your ears for you, you little brat!

Momiji: Kyo, that's not very nice!

Kyo: I'll show you not very nice.

Momiji: Waah! Kyo hit me!

Katie: See you guys next time!

**So as far as spoilers go in this chapter: everything that Tohru told Kairi is straight from Chapter 109, and everything that Kairi said I made up. But you don't know everything yet. Heehee… Oh, and Kyo saying that Tohru told him all of that is true too. I'll keep warning you about spoilers at the beginning of chapters so don't worry too much! By the way, Kairi's mom is based off of my mom!**


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